And another link showing what raid events you need to "unlock" the pure powersources. IIRC you can do SoF raid events to also unlock the pures, but I'm not sure of the exact order you need to get them down.

Or you can just ignore power sources entirely because for the limited benefits they provide they just ain't worth the headaches unless you literally have to be the top of the charts when it comes to class rankings. I mean, seriously, look at all that text and data to be absorbed on that necro forum link!

This has been my technique with all the things that were added to the game after OoW/GoD. There's just too much to take in when you return to the game after a long absence. But interestingly, on that note, one of the last webcasts that SOE put out on Youtube they specifically mentioned adding "in-game" tutorials to address just this exact issue - returning players not having a clue how to use powersources, or use shrouds, etc etc. I was genuinely blown away at the work they are going to to make the game friendlier to all of us chronically confused people.

Frankly, a lot of it is a waste of time and needlessly provides confusion and frustration to new and returning players. Heck, I've played since 1999 and I still don't fully understand the new vitality feature in fellowships. I THINK it's a good idea to enable friends with different playing schedules to remain close to each other in level. But didn't WoW implement such a technique so much more simply?

The only good thing about all this complexity is it does provide a massive background depth and profundity to EQ which means that even experienced players have an endless wealth of zones, quests, npcs and "loot" to discover and engage with. Nobody's ever going to "win" EQ, that's for sure. I kinda love the fact that there remain unsolved quests (probably broken, but what the heck, they're still not solved) and major parts of the game I have yet to experience not because of key restrictions but because I just haven't got to them yet. I don't know about you guys, but that's what I want in an MMORPG. I tried Age of Conan for a short while and between the linearity of the progression and the obvious dearth of content (heck, half the areas shown on the game maps weren't even IN game) I dropped it soon thereafter. On reflection afterwards, I realized I lost interest because Age of Conan is a game not a WORLD. Everquest is a world. I have a lot of fun just WANDERING around sometimes.... doing "nothing", advancing "nothing" beyond my own sense of wonder.

Frankly, a lot of it is a waste of time and needlessly provides confusion and frustration to new and returning players. Heck, I've played since 1999 and I still don't fully understand the new vitality feature in fellowships. I THINK it's a good idea to enable friends with different playing schedules to remain close to each other in level. But didn't WoW implement such a technique so much more simply?

The only good thing about all this complexity is it does provide a massive background depth and profundity to EQ which means that even experienced players have an endless wealth of zones, quests, npcs and "loot" to discover and engage with. Nobody's ever going to "win" EQ, that's for sure. I kinda love the fact that there remain unsolved quests (probably broken, but what the heck, they're still not solved) and major parts of the game I have yet to experience not because of key restrictions but because I just haven't got to them yet. I don't know about you guys, but that's what I want in an MMORPG. I tried Age of Conan for a short while and between the linearity of the progression and the obvious dearth of content (heck, half the areas shown on the game maps weren't even IN game) I dropped it soon thereafter. On reflection afterwards, I realized I lost interest because Age of Conan is a game not a WORLD. Everquest is a world. I have a lot of fun just WANDERING around sometimes.... doing "nothing", advancing "nothing" beyond my own sense of wonder.

Frankly, a lot of it is a waste of time and needlessly provides confusion and frustration to new and returning players. Heck, I've played since 1999 and I still don't fully understand the new vitality feature in fellowships. I THINK it's a good idea to enable friends with different playing schedules to remain close to each other in level. But didn't WoW implement such a technique so much more simply?

The only good thing about all this complexity is it does provide a massive background depth and profundity to EQ which means that even experienced players have an endless wealth of zones, quests, npcs and "loot" to discover and engage with. Nobody's ever going to "win" EQ, that's for sure. I kinda love the fact that there remain unsolved quests (probably broken, but what the heck, they're still not solved) and major parts of the game I have yet to experience not because of key restrictions but because I just haven't got to them yet. I don't know about you guys, but that's what I want in an MMORPG. I tried Age of Conan for a short while and between the linearity of the progression and the obvious dearth of content (heck, half the areas shown on the game maps weren't even IN game) I dropped it soon thereafter. On reflection afterwards, I realized I lost interest because Age of Conan is a game not a WORLD. Everquest is a world. I have a lot of fun just WANDERING around sometimes.... doing "nothing", advancing "nothing" beyond my own sense of wonder.

This is true for tanks. A powersource is a must but for the rest, meh. It is a bunch of hassle. Even on my SK i cant count how many times i have been scratching my head wondering why i am taking more damage only to finally figure out my powersource died on me.

I am always willing to learn. I just added considerable AC to my own warrior by recharging his Power Source. So I will concede that it's worth the effort to learn about their use, especially as you can make the one time "intellectual investment", write it down and then just have to find your notes whenever you need to recharge it. I guess what's frustrating is Sony's EQ developers have a tendency to go "hog wild" with some aspects of the game, making MUCH more complicated than it needs to be. Did they REALLY need to make such an exhausting variety of power sources? Do any other than the couple or 3 that boost AC, HPs and/or Mana ever get used, especially as most of them have NEGATIVE buffs built into them as well.

Consider also the Fellowship campfires. I mean how many groups use anything other than the +HP campfire, yet there has to be over 200 different options. Would anyone really want to buff the entire group's CHA, or turn them all into pumpkin-head illusions? Yeah, I did the latter ONE time for laffs but that was it. In fact, since campfires expire with no warning (meaning after a wipeout you may no longer have a campfire to click back to) and the basic no-buff campfire lasts MUCH longer, these days I only use that one. It costs nothing and the "buff" campfires have suffered from one of the other common problems in EQ: failure to rank up the benefit levels of certain buffs as the game grows and character's stats increase exponentially.

I am always willing to learn. I just added considerable AC to my own warrior by recharging his Power Source. So I will concede that it's worth the effort to learn about their use, especially as you can make the one time "intellectual investment", write it down and then just have to find your notes whenever you need to recharge it. I guess what's frustrating is Sony's EQ developers have a tendency to go "hog wild" with some aspects of the game, making MUCH more complicated than it needs to be. Did they REALLY need to make such an exhausting variety of power sources? Do any other than the couple or 3 that boost AC, HPs and/or Mana ever get used, especially as most of them have NEGATIVE buffs built into them as well.

Well, considering the fact that many people don't have access to Pure powersources (which require raid flags), having a variety of 'translucents' was imperative. Also, for every PS you think is 'useless', someone else will get use from. The reason for a wider variety is choice. The more choices available, the more people can build their characters the way they want to. I mean sure, I think the Air and Decay orbs are useless but I'm sure there's some (misguided) soul who finds them useful.

Sippin wrote:

Consider also the Fellowship campfires. I mean how many groups use anything other than the +HP campfire, yet there has to be over 200 different options. Would anyone really want to buff the entire group's CHA, or turn them all into pumpkin-head illusions? Yeah, I did the latter ONE time for laffs but that was it. In fact, since campfires expire with no warning (meaning after a wipeout you may no longer have a campfire to click back to) and the basic no-buff campfire lasts MUCH longer, these days I only use that one. It costs nothing and the "buff" campfires have suffered from one of the other common problems in EQ: failure to rank up the benefit levels of certain buffs as the game grows and character's stats increase exponentially.

Most of the time, I use the illusion campfire buffs (especially Fae) since, as you mention, the feature hasn't aged well so the buffs aren't as useful as they might have been years ago. Honestly, when even trash armor has Faerune on the head slot item, who really wants/needs a faerune campfire? Duration doesn't bother me much either since I tend to hunt in the same handful of places (so always have a teleporter or mage bound there).

More choice is never a bad thing. Even if the additional choices are useless to you, if anyone else finds those extra options useful, it's a good thing. The worst thing an MMO can do, in my opinion, is force everyone down the same path, removing any and all semblance of freedom from the gameplay.

I guess to some extent this is the big problem with a lot of these features. They took a lot of work to develop, they were very useful and interesting additions to the game originally (YEARS ago) but now they're outdated and close to useless because nobody at Sony ever bothered to look at them again and ramp them up a bit to make them currently relevant. To then expect new and returning players to learn about them is not only close to useless for them but also makes VERY clear to them that a lot of aspects of EQ are out of date. This discouragingly reminds them that they're returning, or starting to play, a very old and somewhat creaky MMORPG.

As a veteran player I love the esoterica and mystery found in the depths of this game. But I think the same things can be offputting to new players, especially if there's little benefit beyond nostalgia in learning about this stuff.

I won't deny this kind of depth can be attractive to some gamers. But NOT to most. Unfortunately, if EQ wants to draw new blood the game has to at least have the potential to be attractive to most gamers. Unless Sony's "game plan" is to maintain EQ "as is" and wind it down over the next few years while putting most of their developmental effort into EQ Next.

I guess to some extent this is the big problem with a lot of these features. They took a lot of work to develop, they were very useful and interesting additions to the game originally (YEARS ago) but now they're outdated and close to useless because nobody at Sony ever bothered to look at them again and ramp them up a bit to make them currently relevant. To then expect new and returning players to learn about them is not only close to useless for them but also makes VERY clear to them that a lot of aspects of EQ are out of date. This discouragingly reminds them that they're returning, or starting to play, a very old and somewhat creaky MMORPG.

As a veteran player I love the esoterica and mystery found in the depths of this game. But I think the same things can be offputting to new players, especially if there's little benefit beyond nostalgia in learning about this stuff.

I won't deny this kind of depth can be attractive to some gamers. But NOT to most. Unfortunately, if EQ wants to draw new blood the game has to at least have the potential to be attractive to most gamers. Unless Sony's "game plan" is to maintain EQ "as is" and wind it down over the next few years while putting most of their developmental effort into EQ Next.

This is no different from any other game around EQ's age. If you tried to play Asheron's Call for the first time now, you'd drown in all the stuff you need to know. Same with Anarchy Online (What does 'OE' mean?) and to a lesser extent, DAoC. Heck, EVE is younger than EQ.

The only way to avoid that is to wipe and relaunch the game every 2 years. Any game with a decade or so of content is going to have dozens of systems that weren't further iterated on. New players will find a game that suits their playstyle and desire. Some people want a mindless experience where the game basically drags you to max level, kicking and screaming, whether you like it or not. Other people want a game with depth and history and stuff to do. Some people want a little bit of both extremes. Right now, the amount of things you need to know to function in EQ is really small. Like you allude to, many features have fallen into the abyss of obsolescence so knowing about them is optional (shrouds, for example. PoP flags for another).

Basically, where we are in EQ is the result of EQ's longevity. I don't think that's such a bad thing though.

Powersources might be considered optional for casuals, but they're a must have for the groupers/raiders I know. Mind you I know very few FTP folks.

If you're on Bristle, shoot me a tell (elricvonclief) and I will run another flagging raid for you in a SoF instance. That flags folks for the pure (raid) powersources available in baz. I've done these dozens of times the last year or 2, just need level 75ish.